{"id":29182,"date":"2023-12-01T12:44:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T20:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/?p=29182"},"modified":"2023-12-01T12:44:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T20:44:07","slug":"health-equity-circle-helps-students-effect-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/2023\/12\/01\/health-equity-circle-helps-students-effect-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Equity Circle Helps Students Realize Their Power to Effect Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Article from WSU Insider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A program founded by a faculty member at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine is showing future doctors, nurses, and pharmacists how they can organize to bring about change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is Health Equity Circle and student-led chapters now are active across the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Luis Manriquez, an assistant clinical professor at the WSU medical school, started the Health Equity Circle<\/a> as a medical student at the University of Washington. His view is that medicine is and should be more than a focus on disease centered in one body. \u201cOftentimes, disease is an outcome of a social condition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Equity Circle chapters recruit student members from multiple programs and schools because  health equity is a shared responsibility. The Spokane chapter, for example, encompasses health sciences students from WSU, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, and the University of Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapters work with local nonprofits and social service agencies to figure out local needs. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to tell community partners what they need,\u201d noted Sarah Goh, one of the two student leaders of the Spokane chapter, along with Nikki Delgado. Both are second-year medical students at WSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Spokane, Health Equity Circle projects include a mental health pilot in schools and daycare centers; providing training on how to use naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose; and reducing language barriers in accessing healthcare, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve realized students can do a lot,\u201d said Delgado. \u201cIt\u2019s valuable to meet community partners and see what their needs are, and it\u2019s fun to see other students get excited about advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manriquez said creating the Health Equity Circle was a way to help students engage with their communities, give them tools for community organizing they can use during their careers, and advance social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has been the primary driver of the nonprofit since it was founded, but a recent generous grant<\/a> from Genentech to WSU is enabling the university to partner with Health Equity Circle to hire a regional organizer. Manriquez also teaches community organizing in the WSU medical school and practices family medicine in Spokane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith this grant and my position at WSU, it\u2019s an example of the investment the college is making in addressing the health needs of Washington,\u201d he said. \u201cNot just the education mission, but also working with community partners and taking, in a sense, some responsibility for the community\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goh said she didn\u2019t know she wanted to work in community organizing until she joined the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a physician you have a voice,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see how as medical students we can make systemic change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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